Composer Gabriella Smith, whose music is often inspired by the natural world, was born and raised in Berkeley, but her compositions have premiered in cities other than her hometown.
That will change this week. “Aquatic Ecology,” a Cal Performances co-commission she composed for the six-piece New York chamber ensemble yMusic, gets its world premiere on March 8 in Zellerbach Playhouse on the University of California, Berkeley campus.
“It’s my first world premiere in Berkeley since my teenage years when I was composing stuff that I definitely don’t count anymore, so that’s really special,” says Smith, 34, whose Marin-seascape-evocative 2014 “Tumblebird Contrails” and 2021 organ concerto “Breathing Forests” exemplify her nature-inspired compositions. “It was not part of the plan when I had the vision for this piece and started talking with yMusic back in 2018 and we kind of had this idea together, so that was a nice thing that happened.”
“Aquatic Ecology” —which is on a program with Ryan Lott’s 2016 “Eleven” and 2020 yMusic compositions “Three Elephants,” “Whosay,” “Cloud” and “The Wolf” —includes processed field recordings of sounds of underwater life, from parrotfish munching algae on coral to mating calls of the bottom-dwelling plainfin midshipman to chatter of dolphins and resonant communications between whales.
Smith compiled the recordings over a period of almost 10 years, using a hydrophone. She also culled sounds from professional recordings provided by others.
She says, “I wanted to share those sounds with people because I find them to be fascinating, so that’s why you hear them raw in many parts of the piece. But then I also wanted to process them just because I find that fun and interesting musically, and I wanted it to become an integrated part of the ensemble, like a musical instrument.”
Following the 2017 composition “Maré” and 2018’s “Tessellations,” “Aquatic Ecology” is the third piece Smith has written for yMusic, collaborators since 2014 who also have worked with composers Andrew Norman, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Marcos Balter and Caroline Shaw. Named for Generation Y, yMusic’s members include flutist Alex Sopp, clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg, trumpet player CJ Camerieri, violinist Rob Moose, violist Nadia Sirota and cellist Gabriel Cabezas, Smith’s old friend and fellow student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
“Gabe and I met on our very first day of school at Curtis—he was 16 and I was 17—and someone said, ‘Oh, you should meet Gabe because your name is Gabriella and you should be friends,’ and amazingly we were!” Smith recounts. “He’s remained one of my best friends since then and we’ve made so much music together. And a huge part of my yMusic writing inspiration just comes from the fact that we’re such good friends.”
Describing her music’s focus, Smith believes that culture is not separate from nature: “We are nature,” she says, adding, “The climate crisis isn’t just about protecting natural areas, it’s about humanity and changing our culture and the health of people… We need to feel that as part of our culture in order to understand that on a visceral level.”
Smith has been working with Cal Performances and local organizations on initiatives to incorporate dynamic climate action in connection with the premiere of “Aquatic Ecology.”
“People coming to my concerts are aware of the climate crisis, but they just feel despair, which isn’t useful, and music is a good tool for feeling the things we need to feel in order to do the work that we need to do. … I want to provide at the concert, hopefully, that link from feeling of things to being involved in some kind of integral, local action,” she says.
“People think that you feel hope and that leads you to action, but it’s the other way around: Doing things is the only way that I’ve felt hope, by being involved in climate action. That’s what I want people to get out of this experience, which is to get ready to work.”
Cal Performances presents “yMusic performs ‘Aquatic Ecology’ by Gabriella Smith” in a sold-out concert at 8 p.m. March 8 in Zellerbach Playhouse, 2413 Bancroft Way, on the University of California, Berkeley campus. For information or to be added to a waiting list for tickets, visit calpeformances.org.
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